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Severt’s Fine Foods in Stratford to close, ending nearly 40-year run for family business

Severt's Fine Foods in Stratford was known for its broasted chicken. The restaurant will open for its final day on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Owner Mike Fitzgerald opened it in 2013 as an iteration of his family's restaurant by the same name, which used to operate in Marshfield.(Photo: Courtesy of Severt's Fine Foods)

STRATFORD - Mike Fitzgerald grew up working for his family's restaurant, Severt's in Marshfield, washing dishes on weekends and helping out.

So when he had the chance to open his own version of the family business in 2013, Severt's Fine Foods in Stratford, he took it. He was already working a job in the area when a former restaurant building, Village Spirits, became available.

Now, seven years later, he's preparing to close the Stratford Severt's at 104 Meadow St. The restaurant's last day will be Feb. 29.

"It's been hard to tell my customers already," Fitzgerald said.

The move, although sad, will ultimately make things easier on Fitzgerald and his family. He purchased Redwood Supper Club in Unity in November, and it's been difficult to run both restaurants, he said.

The menu at Severt's Fine Foods includes options like homemade pizzas and broasted chicken, which Fitzgerald said is most popular. He also sells a "gator plate," inspired by a recipe from his grandma: an open-faced sandwich with hot beef and American fries smothered with onions and mushrooms.

While some of the recipes were handed down from his grandma, Eleanor Severt, who started the Marshfield restaurant, Fitzgerald said he put his own spin on things.

He made the Stratford Severt's a little fancier, he said, leaning more toward the supper club style rather than family restaurant style.

That's the kind of higher-scale dining he wanted to offer the community. So when he had the chance to purchase Redwood Supper Club in Unity, he jumped on it.

He intended to run both restaurants but it became too much work, and he knew he had to make a decision. Since Fitzgerald lives in Unity and was passionate about pursuing the supper club business, he made the tough choice to close Severt's.

It will live on in some form, though. Fitzgerald also runs a Severt's food truck in the summer, which he said will continue to operate. It can be found at fairs in Marshfield and Wausau, and other summer outdoor events and festivals in the area.

Severt's Fine Foods in Stratford will close Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. It's been in Stratford since 2013 but was around since the 1970s in Marshfield, under the same family name.(Photo: Courtesy of Severt's Fine Foods)

The Marshfield Severt's opened sometime in the early 1970s, although Fitzgerald isn't sure when exactly. His uncle, Bill Severt, took over the business after his grandma couldn't operate it anymore. It eventually closed around 2003, he said.

"I know it was her life," Fitzgerald said of his grandmother's restaurant. "My grandma had no regrets doing what she did. She was a proud woman."

Fitzgerald had always wanted to own his own restaurant, ever since working at his grandma's in Marshfield. He said it's growing up in the industry that often pushes people to run their own restaurants.

"I grew up at the restaurant in Marshfield," Fitzgerald said. "Back in the day when it used to be open 24 hours a day, I'd be there on Friday night to wash dishes. We had a recliner in the back, where I’d go to sleep when I finished. Then they’d wake me up for bar close."

After the dish washing, it's customer service that stayed with Fitzgerald. He would help his older customers in and out the door so they didn't slip on the ice, he said. Sometimes he even showed up to help them shovel their driveways in the winter — that way, they could still make it into Severt's Fine Foods for a meal if they wanted it, he said.

Fitzgerald said he'll most miss his customers.

As he begins to focus more on Redwood Supper Club, he's also looking for a new owner to take over Severt's Fine Foods. He owns the building and would sell both the building and the business.

While Fitzgerald would like to see the space remain a family restaurant, he ultimately believes it's most important that the Stratford community still have some kind of dining establishment, and he is willing to work with someone to make that happen.

"No business owner wants to see his business sit there empty," Fitzgerald said.

Severt's Fine Foods will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, until it closes on Feb. 29.